This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article meets our high standards.

The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and validated that they work.
Learn more...

This wikiHow teaches you how to maintain your laptop computer in order to keep it running fast and error-free.

Steps

Part 1

Taking Care of Hardware

1

Prevent accidents before they happen. Protecting your laptop's hardware is usually a matter of caution. You can avoid the majority of common pitfalls by doing the following:

Keep food and drink away from the laptop.

Use your laptop in safe conditions (e.g., away from water, extreme temperatures, and so on).

Place your laptop out of reach of children and pets.

2

Buy a computer case. Especially if you're particularly accident-prone, having a hard-shell case for your laptop will prevent damage from minor falls or spills when your laptop is shut.

You might also want to invest in a specific laptop bag (or a backpack with a dedicated laptop compartment) if you travel often.

3

Know how to treat the battery. Unfortunately, factory laptop batteries tend to have reduced lifespans, so your laptop's battery life will usually not match the factory estimates. Battery life reduces each time you have to charge it, so consider keeping your laptop plugged into a power cable until you absolutely have to use the battery.

4

Use your laptop in ideal conditions. When using your laptop, try to recreate the best possible conditions by doing the following:

Make sure your hands are clean before using your laptop.

Place your laptop on a clean, dust-free surface.

Make sure the laptop is well-ventilated by ensuring that the vents are clear of obstructions.

Keep your environment at a neutral temperature.

Use a dehumidifier if your climate is exceptionally humid.

5

Clean your laptop often. Taking a few minutes to clean your computer of dust, grime, residue, and so on will make a huge difference in your laptop's lifespan. Focus on the following:

Be gentle when plugging in peripherals. Peripherals are items you plug into your laptop; these can include USB flash drives or accessories, headphone or speaker cables, adapters, and even the power cable. Many of these items have specific ports or locations into which they fit, so pay attention to the shape and size of an item's connector before plugging it into its respective port.

7

Don't leave your laptop in a car. Not only do the insides of cars experience large temperature swings that could damage a laptop, but a laptop (or laptop bag) is an inviting target for a thief.

8

Avoid placing things on top of your laptop. This can push the LCD screen into the keyboard, and may eventually damage your laptop's screen.

This includes anything from your phone to books, dishes, or clothes.

9

Shut down your laptop once every few days. You may notice that your laptop begins to run sluggishly after a few days of being constantly on. You can remedy this problem by turning off your laptop all the way and leaving it alone for 15 minutes; this will allow your computer's hardware to rest and reset. To turn off your computer all the way, do the following:

Windows — Click the Start

icon, click the Power

icon, and click Shut down.

Mac — Click the Apple menu

, click Shut Down..., and click Shut Down when prompted.

10

Hold and lift the computer by its base. If you lift your laptop by the screen alone, you could damage the display or the hinges attaching the display to the base. The display is also easily scratched or damaged by direct pressure, so take care not to place pressure on it.

11

Protect the screen. One of the reasons your computer's screen will always end up smudged regardless of how careful you are is because the laptop's screen touches the keyboard keys, which have oil, grit, and dust on them, whenever you close the lid. You can cut down on this problem by placing a thin piece of foam or plastic on your keyboard before closing the lid.

Part 2

Taking Care of Software on Windows

1

Keep your computer's programs up to date. Out-of-date programs can slow down your computer and cause errors, so make sure you're updating your programs whenever you see the "Update available" window pop up.

You can also check for updates manually by opening your program's Settings or Help menu and looking for a Check for Updates button.

Downloading the latest version of a program's installer file and running it will also replace the older version of the program with an updated version.

2

Install a faster browser. If you're still using Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer on your PC, consider switching over to something like Google Chrome or Firefox.

3

Close programs you aren't using. Each running program takes up a certain amount of memory (known as RAM) and processing power, so make sure you're closing the ones you don't want to use. You can force stubborn or unresponsive programs to close by doing the following:

Update Windows whenever possible. When your computer's operating system has an update available, it's best to update right away. Not only will doing so give you access to the latest features and support, it will also ensure that your computer is protected from the most recent threats:

Open Start

.

Open Settings

.

Click

Update & Security.

Click Check for updates, then allow any available updates to install.

Restart Windows to allow operating system updates to install.

6

Clear out temporary files. Temporary files, such as the ones left over from Internet browsing, can clutter your hard drive. You can easily remove them by doing the following:

Open Start

.

Type in disk cleanup.

Click Disk Cleanup.

Check any box on the main window, including the "Temporary Internet Files" one. You can also click the Clean up system files button in the lower-left corner to see additional options.

Click OK, then click Delete Files when prompted.

7

Turn off as many startup programs as possible. Startup programs—i.e., programs which begin running as soon as you start your computer—are notorious for making the process of starting your computer incredibly slow. Preventing all but the most necessary of startup programs from beginning automatically will ensure that your computer loads significantly faster, thus reducing the strain on your processor and lengthening your computer's lifespan:

Press Alt+⇧ Shift+Esc to bring up the Task Manager.

Click the Startup tab.

Select a program that you want to disable.

Click Disable in the lower-right corner of the window.

Repeat with other programs.

8

Clear out old files. Manually deleting files, photos, videos, and other items that you no longer need is essential if you want to maintain your hard drive.

You can delete a file by right-clicking it and then clicking Delete.

9

Defragment your computer's hard drive. Due to Windows' file system, files and other data can become "fragmented" across your hard drive over time. This makes it harder for your hard drive to find the files. Defragmenting your hard drive will reassemble most of these files in their original locations, making your computer run much smoother.

Do not defragment your computer if you have a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of a traditional hard drive. It isn't necessary, and can actually ruin your drive in the process.

10

Empty the Recycle Bin. It's easy to forget that files you've moved to the Recycle Bin by way of deleting them aren't automatically removed from your hard drive. To empty the Recycle Bin, right-click it, click Empty Recycle Bin in the drop-down menu, and click Yes when prompted.

Part 3

Taking Care of Software on a Mac

1

Keep your computer's programs up to date. Running outdated programs on your Mac can be a security risk. While updating third-party programs must be done from within the programs' Help or Settings menus, you can update your Mac's App Store programs by doing the following:

Click the Apple menu

.

Click App Store... in the drop-down menu.

Click the Updates tab.

Click UPDATE ALL at the top of the page.

2

Use Safari to browse. Contrary to Windows computers, your Mac's Safari browser is the fastest option available to you. This doesn't mean you can't use other browsers like Chrome or Firefox, but if you're looking for the fastest browser available, Safari is your best bet.

3

Close programs you aren't using. Each running program takes up a certain amount of memory (known as RAM) and processing power, so make sure you're closing the ones you don't want to use. You can close programs from the Dock by clicking and holding an app and then clicking Quit in the pop-up menu, and you can force stubborn or unresponsive programs to close by doing the following:

Click Spotlight

.

Type in activity monitor.

Double-click Activity Monitor.

Select a program you want to quit, then click the X icon in the top-left corner of the window.

Click Force Quit when prompted.

4

Remove unwanted programs. Uninstalling apps on a Mac is relatively simple: drag the app's icon from the Applications folder into the Trash, then enter your Mac's password if prompted. This will help clear up hard drive space, which is especially important given that many Macs don't have huge hard drives.

5

Update macOS whenever possible. Your Mac's operating system will occasionally receive a free update that includes new features, protection against new threats, and error fixes. It's incredibly important to update your Mac when these fixes become available.

6

Protect your Mac with an antivirus program. Unlike Windows computers, your Mac doesn't come equipped with a built-in, dedicated antivirus program. You can use the free Malwarebytes program to protect your Mac from viruses, malware, and other malicious software.

7

Turn off as many startup programs as possible. While startup programs may not impact your Mac's startup time to the same extent that they impact a PC, you can still shave a few seconds off of your Mac's startup time and prevent unnecessary strain on your computer's components by preventing programs from starting when you turn on your Mac.

8

Clear out old files. Manually deleting files, photos, videos, and other items that you no longer need is essential if you want to maintain your hard drive.

You can delete a file by clicking it to select it, clicking File, and clicking Move to Trash.

9

Empty the Trash. Your Mac's Trash doesn't empty by itself, so any files you've deleted will technically remain on your hard drive until you clear out the Trash. You can do this by clicking and holding the Trash icon in your Mac's Dock and then clicking Empty Trash in the pop-up window.

Is it good to use a laptop with a plugged in charger left in all the time?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

It depends upon how long do you use your laptop. If you use your laptop constantly for five to ten hours a day, then it would probably be helpful to unplug the switch of your laptop so as to enhance the duration of the battery's life. However, it's also good to not drain it entirely each day, so don't let it go under 40 percent before charging it again.

You usually get cleaning supplies with your laptop. In case you don't, or you have misplaced them, you can easily find them online and they are not expensive (you might even get them at a local store.)
Or, as mentioned, use an old toothbrush for the keyboard.

Yes. Just make sure you're using a bag that's has enough space for your device. For example, a bag with a 15.6 inch pocket for your laptop wont fit a 17.3 inch one. It's a really good idea to slip your laptop into a cover to protect if from rubbing against other items in the bag -- even a pillowcase will do.

What kind of games can I play without taking up all of the data on my computer's hard drive?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

It depends of what kind of game it is. Some may take up a lot of space and some may not. Look at your hard drive capacity by going to Start Menu - Computer and then you will see your space, for example, 34.6 GB used out of 83 GB. You should also look at how much space the game takes up on your computer.

Tips

If you have a standard hard drive instead of a Solid State Drive (SSD), try to keep it below half-full. Any files stored in the bottom half of the hard drive often take significantly longer to retrieve than those stored in the top half. Keeping your hard drive below half-full will cut down on load times.

You can reinstall your computer's operating system once every year or two by backing up your computer's data, resetting your computer, and then restoring your backed-up data. This will remove system-level items that contribute to slow-down and decay of your computer over time.

Laptop insurance is a must if you plan on taking your computer more than a few feet from your office or general workspace.

If you travel often, you should put a label with your name, e-mail, cell phone number, and other pertinent contact details on the laptop, the power cord, and any other removable parts.

Warnings

Laptop batteries—particularly the ones which are included with laptops—tend not to have much longevity. You'll most likely need to replace your laptop's battery after a couple of years in order to avoid having to use the laptop while constantly plugged in.

Article Info

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article meets our high standards.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 773,210 times.

Is this article up to date?

Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy.

Tested By:

wikiHow Technology Team

How helpful is this?

Co-authors: 86

Updated:

Views: 773,210

BM

Beth M.

May 26, 2016

"I just purchased a new laptop after my laptop of three years was damaged beyond repair in a fall. It was bloated with duplicate files and software, in addition to having crumbs down near some of the keys. I was reading online to find out how to take better care of my new computer, and found this article very helpful. "..." more

PB

Pamalee Baker

Jul 16, 2016

"When I went to school, I used pencil and paper. Now in this age, I am trying to become a smarter individual and use a computer but I have absolutely no idea what to do. This has helped me to understand a lot that I didn't know about computers."..." more

AR

Adhi Raj

Jun 26, 2016

"It really helped me to take care of my laptop, and everyone should see the warning to keep their laptop safe."

AK

Ashiq Kumar

Aug 25, 2017

"I learned from it, and these are very helpful tips for me to take care of my PC. Thank you for this article."

Rated this article:

AA

Amirz Alinejad

Jun 30, 2016

"I like to keep my laptop nice and tidy, and obviously this article helped me a lot in that way."

AT

Astrid Torres

Oct 7, 2016

"It is a big help, especially to those who are first time users of a laptop."

RM

Ramakrishnan M.

Jun 19, 2016

"Nice. I didn't expect this level of care. wikiHow is always the best."

BD

Barbara Deane

Aug 8, 2017

"I am about to have it serviced and it reminded me of what to ask him."